Direct Energy is one of North America’s largest energy and energy-related services providers with nearly 5 million residential and commercial customer relationships. Direct Energy provides customers with choice and support in managing their energy costs through a portfolio of innovative products and services. A subsidiary of Centrica plc (LSE:CNA), one of the world’s leading integrated energy companies, Direct Energy operates in 46 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and 10 provinces in Canada.
Like we said, fees don’t necessarily make for a bad plan — although it’s worth it to do the math to see if you can save with another provider. For example, compare TXU Energy’s Simple Rate 12 plan with its $9.95 base charge, alongside Direct Energy’s Live Brighter 12 plan with a smaller base charge, and Reliant’s Digital Discount plan with no base charge. We’ll use a Corpus Christi ZIP code and assume 1,000 kWh/month of energy use.

ElectricityPlans lets you easily compare electricity plans by displaying all-inclusive rates at all advertised usage levels in a simple easy-to-read format. You can easily estimate your actual all-in electric bill at any given usage level using our Plan Details and Pricing section for each plan. All energy charges, delivery fees, bill credits, and other fees for each plan are shown so you can accurately estimate your monthly electric bill. By showing all rates and fees, you’ll avoid the electric bill sticker shock and so-called “teaser rates” commonly used by electric suppliers to achieve better search results on sites such as powertochoose.org.

Prepaid electricity plans are yet another option available to Texas customers. Prepaid plans let you avoid credit checks and deposits by pre-paying for your electricity. Prepaid electricity plans typically do not have a fixed duration and operate on a pay-as-you-go basis. Shopping for prepaid electricity can often yield relatively cheap electricity with no deposit. See Prepaid Electricity: Is It Right For Me? for more.
Even though customers in deregulated cities routinely pay more for electricity, there is a bright spot. The gap between the average price paid for electricity between deregulated cities like Houston and regulated cities like San Antonio have dwindled to the narrowest point ever to 8.8 percent. Back in 2006, customers in deregulated cities were paying nearly 47 percent more for electricity than their counterparts in regulated cities.
SFE Energy is a division of a multi-million dollar international corporation that services hundreds of thousands of electricity, natural gas, and home services customers across the Northeastern United States and Canada. SFE Energy’s parent company, Summitt Energy, opened its doors in 2006, thriving in one of the most competitive and highly regulated energy markets in North America. SFE Energy is a leading competitive supplier of electricity & natural gas for homes and businesses, and one of the largest privately-held retail energy companies in North America.
Texas deregulated most of the state's electricity markets in 2002, a move aimed at lowering electricity costs by letting consumers choose their own electric power providers and their own plans. Some parts of Texas continued to be regulated, including those whose power is proved by municipally-owned utilities, electric cooperatives and investor-owned utilities that operate outside the state's primary power grid.
Some good news: According to J.D. Power’s 2016 survey on retail electric providers (its most current survey of the space), Texas has the highest overall satisfaction with retail electric providers out of any state. And because rates, plans, and offers can be so similar from provider to provider, customer satisfaction scores are a great way to break a tie. Think of it like choosing who to hire when you have two candidates with similar resumes — you’re going to pick the person with the glowing references.
If you’re looking for cheap electricity in Houston, TX, you’ve come to the right place. We compiled the best electricity plans in Houston from the top providers, ensuring that each electricity company we select meets our high standards for business stability, eco-friendliness, and transparent pricing. You can rest easy knowing you’re choosing the best from the best.

If you’re looking for cheap electricity in Houston, TX, you’ve come to the right place. We compiled the best electricity plans in Houston from the top providers, ensuring that each electricity company we select meets our high standards for business stability, eco-friendliness, and transparent pricing. You can rest easy knowing you’re choosing the best from the best.

Because prices from energy companies in Maryland rise and fall depending on the wholesale price of energy, residents may want a more stable rate for a longer period. A fixed-rate energy plan offers you just that, with a consistent rate for the duration of your agreement at current energy prices – regardless of fluctuations in the energy market. This could mean protection from rate spikes and savings for electric utility customers.
Just Energy is a leading independent energy supplier with over 1.6 million electricity and natural gas customer accounts across the US and Canada. Just Energy’s business involves the sale of natural gas and electricity to residential and commercial customers under long-term fixed-price or price-protected contracts (price protected for electricity). By securing the price for natural gas or electricity under such contracts for a period of up to five years, Just Energy’s customers reduce or eliminate their exposure to changes in the price of these essential commodities.
At ElectricityPlans, we’re here to do one thing – help you find the best electricity plan to fit your needs. We are big advocates of electricity competition and your power to choose your own electricity provider. We offer completely unbiased electricity plans and display accurate, transparent pricing to take the guesswork out of choosing your electricity plan.
Gone are the days when you had to contact electric companies to discover their rates, and negotiate a better deal on your own. Today, Vault Electricity does the work for you, handling the entire process of finding the best Texas electricity rates and plans from providers that have a pedigree of business stability, customer service, eco-friendliness, and financial transparency. This allows you to shop for electricity in just a few minutes, right from your computer.
Fixed-rate, long-term (contract) plans provide stability in electricity rates. If market energy costs suddenly trend upward where you live, you can rest assured that you won’t have to pay more out of pocket. However, if you want to switch to a different, lower-cost plan before the end of the contract term, you’ll likely have to pay a cancellation or early termination fee.
Another unwelcome side effect of not knowing your average monthly kWh usage level is that you may end up paying more than you expect. This can occur when a customer inadvertently shops an electric rate based on a higher usage level than they actually use. Electricity suppliers commonly advertise their electric rates associated with the highest (2000 kWh) usage levels since those tend to be the lowest rates.

Just Energy is a leading independent energy supplier with over 1.6 million electricity and natural gas customer accounts across the US and Canada. Just Energy’s business involves the sale of natural gas and electricity to residential and commercial customers under long-term fixed-price or price-protected contracts (price protected for electricity). By securing the price for natural gas or electricity under such contracts for a period of up to five years, Just Energy’s customers reduce or eliminate their exposure to changes in the price of these essential commodities.

Compare and choose energy plans from the best electricity providers in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Abilene, Waco, McAllen and all other energy deregulated cities in Texas: Direct Energy, First Choice Power, Frontier Utilities, Payless Power, Acacia Energy, Tara Energy, Sunfinity Solar and more. With most of these provider plans, you can even get same-day energy for free! Quick Electricity features many electric companies with free nights and weekends. Popular prepaid electricity plans include, Bright Choice, Power to Go Weekends and Deposit Saver. Call us now to get your lights on pronto!
*Save Over £390 - Over 10% of the estimated quotations raised by users of the Simply Switch Website to switch their gas and electricity suppliers between 01/02/2015 - 01/06/2015 produced a predicted annual saving of £390 or more. Current combined spend for gas and electricity of between £84 and £6869. Savings may have included Direct Debit and online discounts. Energy prices vary by usage and postcode.
Clearview Electric, Inc. began in 2006 as an electricity provider in Texas and is headquartered in Dallas. They enrolled their first customer in June 2007, and have experienced substantial growth in other markets. Clearview provides services to residents and small businesses in all deregulated electricity markets with plans to expand into all deregulated gas markets. Clearview offers fixed and variable rate products, including green energy plans that are 100% wind powered. Clearview customers experience no interruption of service when switching and do not pay any start-up fees.
Canadian electricity is cheap at 10 US cents per kilowatt hour, which is reflected in their high average electricity usage. US electricity prices at 0.12 $/kWh are also quite cheap internationally. In India and China they are very cheap. The UK is in the middle at 20 cents. It’s relatively expensive globally but not too bad for Europe, where most countries pay a high share of tax on their power.
Where should you shop for electricity? Houstonians have the power to choose from an overwhelming variety of energy suppliers, plans, and options. If you live in the Houston metro area and your local electric utility is CenterPoint, over 50 different retail electricity providers currently offer electricity plans in your area. Each of these electricity providers offer sites, tools, and information on how to switch plans and providers. However, their information is often filled with electricity rates that are difficult to compare because of things like introductory rates, bill credits, narrow usage levels, unexpected fees, and legalese buried in the EFLs. Fortunately, Houston homes and businesses have electricity shopping options that make the process much simpler.
We've pioneered our techniques and grown our expertise in the retail energy industry for more than a decade. With hundreds of thousands of customers and firm investor backing, we're a company you can count on. Spark Energy is also proud to be a publically traded company: our NASDAQ ticker is SPKE. Visit our investor relations page for more information.